Even if knife cuts both ways

As expected, the partial re-opening of the Philippine Online Gaming Operations (POGOs) under the modified lockdown guidelines stirred furor in the midst of the government’s campaign against the spread of the 2019 coronavirus disease, or COVID-19. As approved by President Rodrigo Duterte, the partial resumption of POGOs in the Philippines would start on May 16 in areas classified as “low risk” to a resurgence of the COVID-19 contagion.

President Duterte gave the approval upon the evaluation and recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging and Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID). As explained by the IATF, the POGOs fall under the Business Process Outsourcing (BPOs) industry which is among the activities that would be allowed to resume in “low risk” areas identified in the general community quarantine (GCQ).

Following the IATF go-signal, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) immediately set into motion the guidelines on the “minimum standards of health” that would be required once the POGOs restart their operations. Among other things, PAGCOR president and chief executive officer Andrea Domingo announced only 30% operations of PAGCOR-registered POGOs would resume their online operations under strict supervision of physical or social distancing and other quarantine measures to prevent a spread of COVID infection.

PAGCOR’s goal: capture as much as P300 to P600 million in revenues per month – money that can help shore up government’s dwindling resources during the pandemic.

Nonetheless, this angered anti-gambling advocates as well as arch business rivals of POGOs like BPO groups which came out with disclaimer they do not recognize POGOs as part of BPOs.  Aren’t Philippine-based POGO service providers typical BPOs since they provide offshore gaming companies with outsourced services for a fee which include call center operations, telemarketing, systems and IT hardware support, including “live dealer” video streaming services? Mandarin-speaking Chinese nationals also perform telemarketing and call center support because they deal with queries from online players based in Hongkong, Taiwan, and other Chinese-speaking countries.

Precisely, all the online gambling being consummated in the POGOs are not taking place here in the Philippines. So the arguments that allowing POGOs to resume their business is to abet gambling habits are groundless.

At the heels of reported rising cases of kidnap-for-ransom of Chinese nationals involved in POGO gambling either as victims or kidnappers prompted a full-blown investigation by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. It was held a few weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic led to the suspension last March 15 of all casino and POGO operations here.

It was also after the Chinese Embassy in Manila announced in an official press statement that China had canceled the passports of its nationals who are illegally working in POGOs and arrested for other fraudulent and criminal activities in the Philippines. Beijing, speaking through their Chinese Embassy here, vowed to work closely with Manila “to combat such crimes as telecommunications fraud, illegal online-gambling, money-laundering, illegal employment, kidnapping, extortion, torture, murder etc. so as to effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of nationals of the two countries, and to promote the China-Philippines friendship and cooperation.”

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen was the first to respond to China’s call and banned POGO operations in their country since October last year. Our own PAGCOR subsequently suspended issuance of new licenses applied to operate POGOs elsewhere in the Philippines.

At the sidelines of the Leaders’ Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) late last year, President Duterte disclosed his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping expressed in strongest terms China’s staunch policy against gambling. All forms of gambling by Chinese citizens, including online-gambling, gambling overseas, opening and operating casinos overseas to attract citizens of China as primary customers, are totally banned by Beijing authorities. President Duterte himself admitted his Chinese “beshie” made it loud and clear to him Beijing does not wish to see the proliferation of POGOs in the rest of their ASEAN neighbor countries as well.

A member of the IATF, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. weighed in on the questioned resumption of POGO operations. In his Twitter account last Saturday, Locsin posited: “Why China keeps badgering the Philippine government to shut down POGOs and why the public suspects that critics and oppositionists who parrot the Chinese detestation of POGOs are probably on their payroll.”

“Putting onus on countries hosting POGO works. It crack-downed on Cambodia and stopped it,” Locsin cited.

The DFA Secretary brushed aside claims by administration critics that Beijing tacitly allows POGOs to continue in the Philippines purportedly as a “favor” to China-friendly President Duterte. “That doesn’t make sense because it is happening all around China from Mongolia down and around Southeast Asia. They are doing favors to the leaders of all those states? Then why did they threaten Cambodia successfully to stop POGOs,” Locsin argued.

Whatever the answer to this will be a no-win situation to President Duterte.

For more than a month of lockdown, the country’s economy suffered. Many lost their jobs and income – especially true to the poorest of the poor Filipino families trying to cope with COVID-19 infection while hunger pangs haunt them. As taxes due the Philippine government are sinking, too, state coffers are now reportedly running low already.

But more funds are needed to spend for anti-COVID measures. Government has resorted to new foreign borrowings. We, taxpayers, will pay for those obligations. As justified no less by our government, they opted to slowly reopen sectors like POGOs and their service providers as they are readily available sources of much-needed revenues for the State.

As one popular Filipino saying goes: “Kapit sa patalim” (loosely translated as clutching a knife blade). This is even if the knife cuts both ways.